Visalia is closer to getting a new logo. How much will the city pay the winning artist?
Visalia’s search for a palatable, sesquicentennial logo is lumbering to an Aug. 5 finale when the city council could select one of five designs that were whittled down from 87 entries.
The search – which the council started shortly after the minimalist “Breaking Through the V” logo which was part of a larger rebranding campaign that cost the city $150,000 (including a recruitment strategy and marketing) was roundly booed on social media when it was unveiled in May – has lumbered forward.
The five-member committee could not agree on a prize for the winning entry, and instead recommended at its Wednesday meeting at the convention center a minimum of $1,500.
A logo redesign committee member, Nick Miller, refused to vote for a monetary recommendation “because in this room we’ve heard it can be $10,000 or $200 bucks.”
Miller received hate messages on social media after he was quoted in local media, including The Fresno Bee, about the logo selection process.
The committee decided on entries No. 7, 34, 35, 56 and 59 at a Monday meeting, and stuck with those five on Wednesday. The city will display the five logos from July 15 through 5 p.m. on July 26 and solicit public comment. The council is expected to make a decision at its Aug. 5 meeting.
Discussion about payment to artist
The committee was split on how much the winning artist should get.
“Whoever designed this thing, whoever solved this problem, needs to be compensated, right? Like we need to pay them. I don’t want to give them a plaque,” Miller said.
The submission process indicated that those submitting their artwork will “donate” the artwork to the city. However, the council asked staff to work with the committee to recommend a prize amount.
“We’re awarding somebody a gift for what they did, and I think $1,500 for the proposals that we received … that’s like a generous gift for one logo in two weeks,” said committee member Mary Jo Eastes, vice president at each of the board of directors of Arts Visalia and Arts Consortium. “It’s a nice pat on the back.”
Committee member Carrie Groover said the entries were submitted for free, “with that intention that they were not expecting compensation, whatever that looks like.”
“We can make any recommendations, we are not the decision,” Groover said.
Committee members Raymond Macareno, Lauren Walters, and Groover agreed with Eastes in recommending a $1,500 honorarium in thanks for providing the chosen logo and appropriate recognition if accepted. Miller recused himself.
Macareno said the $1,500 should be the minimum that the winner should be compensated.
Less than a dozen people showed up Wednesday night. Some voiced concerns that the prize amount that would be recommended by the committee won’t be a fair amount. Some said the prize amount should be something discussed between the city council and the individual who created the chosen entry.
The final logo will complement the Legacy Logo, and becomes the property of the city. If the winner and the city do not reach an agreement on transferring the right, title and interest in the artwork, the council will decide on another entry.
